Light screen



June 21, 1960 v. TERRACINA LIGHT SCREEN Filed Aug. 5, 1955 E INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States 2,942,101 LIGHT SCREEN Vittorio Terracina,vicoloDoria 7, Rome, Italy Filed Aug. s,'19ss, ser. No. 526,607 I Claim. (cum- 9 diagrammatic view showing the operation of the-conventional type of screen;

Fig-2 is a plan view of the conventional 'type of frame-enclosed screen;

Fig. 3 diagrammaticallyillustrates three ways in which cylindrical-elements or cells of thepresent invention may be. grouped or assembled;

Fig.4 diagrammatically illustratesa light screen composed of a plurality'of these cylindrical elements or cells, the cells being grouped together to form a triangular arrangement;

Fig. 5 is a view showing two of the cylinders or cells placed together in juxtaposition and in coupled relationship by means of the two-part connector disclosed in Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the two-part connector;

Fig. 7 shows how three cylinders or cells are coupled together to a sleeve, with the sleeve suspended from an adjustable rod;

Fig. 8 is a view from below, of the structure shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 shows the suspension rod on which the cylinder or cell-engaging sleeve is adjustably mounted;

Fig. 10 is a bottom end viewof the structure shown in Fig. 9, and

v Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 1l-11 of Fig. 9.

In Fig. l of the annexed drawings a device of known construction is diagrammatically illustrated. Reference letter L denotes the sources of light; C indicates a screen composed of rectangular cells and horizontally arranged beneath said sources of light; V denotes the vertical strips intercepting the rays of light and, lastly, O indicates the level of the eyes of people who are staying in the place to be lighted.

Said type of cellular screen has a very low resistance to flexure both in the main plane and in the planes perpendicular thereto. Resistance to deformation in the plane of said screen is'very low, or there is no resistance at all, so that the cells may convert themselves from rectangles into parallelograms. Besides that, the resistance to flexure of the walls of said cells is insignificant. Thus, in order to be able to perform the setting up, it will be necessary for said type of structure to be secured in a certain number of stiff carrying frames, with a consequent loss of light, increase in the cost of installation and a limitation in style. Fig. 2 represents such a frame indicated at 10.

The object of the present invention is to provide a type of antidazzling non-glare screen, whose cells are formed from tubular elements of circular section. By connecting the'adjacent' cylindrical elements in positions located wholly or partially on the generating liuesof contact, structures'of such a kind are obtained'whicharealtogether diiferent from those having rectan gular"cell;'they prove to be incomparably more resisting and still in'respect of any possible deformation, so that they maybe termined self-supporting. The necessity of stififra'mes is done away with. I

The cylindrical elements, whichare hollow cylinders or sleeves, may be arranged or grouped together according to the vertexes of equilateral triangles: :11, ofsqua'res l1 and of regular hexagons 11" as shown in Fig}.

Said elements may be grouped together so as'to form a panel 13 capable of being easily handled (see Fig14) the group thereof being shaped as an equilateral triangle.

Since there is no need of using enclosing frames, for the actual junction of the various panels it will be sulficient for them to be connected wholly or partially at their contact points by small bolts such'as shown at A and B passing through holes provided in the cylinders. Said bolts may be formed from two parts (a male part B and a female part A) which are externally similar and are knurled in such a way as to facilitate the tightening-up of them Without the need of a tool.

Fig. 5 shoWs in section two cylindrical elements or cells M and M joined together by means of said small bolts A and B, the details of which are illustratedin Fig. 6.

For suspending said panels to the ceiling, suspension or tie rods D are used which, by being introduced into the interstitial curvilinear spaces between adjacent cylinders, are not visible from below.

Said tie rods D may be connected to the panels so as to be able to adjust their height by using a special type of tubular shaped stretcher or sleeve H to be introduced in said curvilinear gaps between the cells. In Fig. 7 such a device is illustrated: therein S denotes the ceiling, D indicates the suspension rod with its lower end adjustably screwed into the tubular stretcher or sleeve H to which by means of small bolts with a knurled head of type B (see Fig. 6) the cylinders or cells M, M M are secured. Fig. 9 shows the details of said stretcher. In this this figure, S denotes the ceiling, D indicates the suspension rod, E indicates the threaded end of the latter, H indicates the tubular stretcher or sleeve, F the internally threaded end of the latter, G the lower end of the stretcher, conveniently compressed or shaped otherwise as seen in Fig. 10, so as to permit it to be rotated by introducing a screwdriver into its end or in any other equivalent manner.

Such a type of stretcher or sleeve connected in the gap formed between the cells in the various panels may at the same time serve as connection between said panels, by utilizing threaded holes (in Fig. 9 indicated by I) provided on said stretcher and lying in a plane perpendicular thereto at intervals of or Into the holes threaded pins of type B (as shown in Fig. 6) are screwed by introducing them from the inside of the cylinders located on the vertexes of the panels through holes provided therein. This device is illustrated in Fig. 8.

The suspension device for the said antidazzling screens with cylindrical cells is illustrated by way of example, but it may, of course, be replaced by another equivalent device.

For building up structures as disclosed hereinbefore, recourse may be had to the employment of tube sections, but it will also be possible to utilize, as this is generally more convenient, rectangular plates which are given a cylindrical shape by calendering. The closure of the cylinders may be obtained in previously determined positions by drilling said plates and the formation of the holes in the plates may serve as the connection between the single cylinders by utilizing the same holes. The connection of the various cylindrical elements may also be secured by means of rivets or another equivalent fastening means inserted through the said holes. The connection together of the various cylindrical elements may also be obtained by soldering. Particular color lighting effects may be achieved by differently coloring the light issuing from the single cylindrical elements which are hollow inside. This may be obtained both by coloring the inner walls of said cylinders by applying a paint or by adapting, independently of the construction of the panels, on the upper orifice of each cylinder a suitable disc 10 as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 of colored transparent material. In both cases the effect of a luminous mosaic will be achieved.

The advantages to be achieved by putting into effect the invention have been illustrated in the foregoing specification. At any rate, it will be convenient to repeat that the cylindrical structure of the tube elements constituting the cells of the antidazzling screen results in the securement of the most suitable conditions of resistance and stillness to deformation, so as to render unnecessary the use of supporting frames, while maintaining the thickness of the various cellular walls at the greatest possible thinness which assists also the construction of very lightweight panels.

What I claim is:

A light screen for disposition in spaced relation from a source of light comprising a plurality of parallel cylindersopen at opposite ends and defining a planar structure,

. adjacent cylinders being in tangential contact, said cylinders defining at least one longitudinal passage between adjacent outer surface portions of said cylinders, transverse openings in said cylinders at said passage, and a support for suspending said screen comprising elongated threadably connected members comprising a rod and tube, said rod including a threaded end removably received in said tube and an opposite hook end for suspending said screen, said tube being longitudinally disposed within said passage and including radially spaced threaded bores in alignment with said openings in the cylinders, the lower end of said tube being flattened for receiving a screw driver blade therein, threaded fastening elements extending from within said cylinders through said aligned bores and openings and retaining said screen in assembled relation, and a disc of colored transparent material transversely of each of said cylinders for color ing light rays passing through said screen.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,608,592 Funk Nov. 30, 1926 1,618,010 Hoss Feb. 15, 1927 1,659,409 Porter Feb. 14, 1928 1,720,441 Rivkin July 9, 1929 1,792,046 Skaupy Feb. 10, 1931 1,962,648 Pfiueger June 12, 1934 2,398,799 Miller Apr. 23, 1946 2,659,807 Wakefield Nov. 17, 1953 2,725,126 Ely Nov. 29, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 265,047 Switzerland Feb. 16, 1950 806,538 Germany June 14, 1951' 1,022,671 France Dec. 17, 1952 

